“Anyone who listens . . is wise, like a person who builds on solid rock.” Matthew 7:24 NLT
“How quickly you build is never as important as how well you build.”
My thoughts today encourage that you “build wisely.”
It seems astounding to me that a person would work so hard to build a worthwhile life and sacrifice so much of themselves to do so without careful thought to the durability of what they are building. That just doesn’t make sense, does it? But that happens all the time. It happens in careers; it happens in marriages and families; it happens with reputations; it happens with wealth; it happens with fame and celebrity. Have you heard of “fifteen minutes of fame?” Don’t sell your soul for temporary pleasures or profits.
How quickly you build is not as important as how well you build. Never has been; never will be! How expensively or cheaply you build is not as crucial as how well you build. Jesus used the examples of two men building their homes. They had more similarities than dissimilarities, but there was one catastrophic difference. One built for right now with little regard for later. The other built to last.
One man built on sand, and what he built could not stand the tests of time and trouble; it collapsed because of that fatal flaw. “So are the paths of all who forget God. And the hope of the hypocrite shall perish, whose confidence shall be cut off, and whose trust is a spider’s web. He leans on his house, but it does not stand. He holds it fast, but it does not endure. Job 8:13-15NKJV.
The other more wisely built on solid rock! The latter experienced the same difficulties, but what he built endured because he began with a sure foundation. “Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.” 1 Tim 6:18-19 NAS.
The difference at the end is usually connected to where you start – the all-important foundation. Here’s where you must start if you will be wise, “According to the grace of God .. like a master builder I laid a foundation . . each man must be careful how he builds. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 NAS. Anything or anyone else upon which you try to build your life will ultimately fail you.
A favorite hymn of mine is, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ the solid Rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.” Edward Mote, 1800s. See Isaiah 28:16-17 NIV. It is not youth, or beauty, or talent, or success, or wealth, or good deeds, or friends – only what is built upon a foundation of faith in Jesus Christ will last through time, and into eternity. “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are His.’” 2 Timothy 2:19 NIV.
But Jesus also warned, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the Chief Cornerstone. Whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” Luke 20 17-18 NKJV. You embrace Christ and know life; you ignore Him to your own peril.
My prayer for you today is: make Christ the core and center of all you are and do.